Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-08-22
HOPE AN ANCHOR OF THE SOUL
The immutability of Gods Promise Con-
ffmed by an Oath

The Immutability of Gods Promise Con-
fifmed by an Oath.
Rev. ii. G. Christian, Pastor of the Sey-
enth-street II. E. Church South, preached
very interesting sermon last evening.
he took for his text the last five verses of
the sixth chapter of Paul's epistle to the
Hebrews:
For men verify swear by the greater, and an
oath for continuation is to them an end OF all
strife.
Wherein God, willing more abundsntly 10
show unto the heirs of promise the immutabil-
ity OF his counsel confirmed it by an oath
That by two immutable things in which it
was impossible for God to lie we might have a
, strong consolation who have fled for refuge to
lay hold upon the hope set before us.
Which hope we have as an anchor OF the soul.
both sure and steadtast and which entereth
into that within the vail.
Whether the forerunner is for us entered. even
Jesus made a high priest forever after the or
der of Melchizedek.
There is said to be only one thing sure,
and that is heaven. This Is a source of
great consolation. We prize the promises
OF friends; some we never can forget but al
the same time we realize that all human
promises may fail-the promiser may not be
! able to keep those promises. If God had
sworn by the rock-ribbed mountains, they
will pass away with time, or be destroyed in
the great conflagration that is to consume
the earth. God takes an OATH He swears
by himself, and he being immutaele can
give the immutable promise Two i'm
mutable things, in which we can have en-
tire and implicit confidence. The apostle,
| in using the word refuge, no doubt refers to
the old cities of refuge. When a man MUIR
dered another, not willfully, then, if he
reached that city before being overtaken by
his pursuers, he was protected. So we
have hope, refuge, which is Jesus
Christ and sal vations through him. The
apostle afterwards changes this figure,
and likens it to ship with an
anchor nearing a rock bound coast during
| a violent storm and there is danger of its
being dashed to pieces. The anchor is let
| down and the strong cable holds the vessel
peacefully and calmly amidst the furies of
the storm. So he says Which hope we
have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and
steadfast, and which entereth into that
within the vail Faith in Jesus is the
anchor of the soul. The figure of the an
Choir suggests the great moral peril to
which human life is exposed. We are all
sailors out upon life's ocean; we know not
whittier we are drifting; some give it not
thought, while Others hope to reach
Heaven. Thank God that in this country
and in this community there are some who
are seeking to have anchors to their souls,
and are securely anchored to the blessed
promise given in this text. There are
many perils encountered on lifes ocean,
where we need this anchor to save us from
destruction-to hold us from the danger
Gus rocks as the anchor holds a ship in a
storm.
The speaker said he knew of no place
in all the wide world where souls were ex-
posed to more danger than in California.
Wings of contending doctrines were spread
over every quarter of this moral haven,
and souls exposed to these strong winds
are in constant peril of being lost on this
ocean of human doubt. Where we know
there are so many who have nothing to
lean upon no anchor to save them from
b q dashed to pieces; no well-iefned belief
IN Christ; who believe in evt rything, and be-
lieve in nothing, there is nothing grander
in the world tina n for a man or woman TO
have the old faith of their fathers, those
who have preceded them and entered into
the other world, into the spirit land
Another peril of our times is the re-
lection of the old and acknowledged an
chorage of the human soul. We are all
hunting shorter route to heaven There
is nothing better, safer nor surer than that
old anchor which has been beacon light
for over 1900 years and which has brought
into that haven of rest so many souls.
Men are found who sheer at and speak
hippantly of the Bible; who assume to
know more than all the millions that have
lived during the past eighteen centuries.
They would have us leave out the doctrine
of penitence and other matters objection
able to their ideas of Christianity. When
these old and well established doctrines
are forsaken the journey is endangered.
He called the attention of his hea rers to
the peril of neglect. There was as much
danger during calm as in storm, al
though not so apparent. In the midst of
life we are in death. When we have faith
anchored in Christ there is great consola-